


Deference

by Terrorbyrd



Category: Imperial Radch Series - Ann Leckie
Genre: Ambiguous anatomy, Canon Non-Binary Character, Missing Scene, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-20
Updated: 2016-03-20
Packaged: 2018-05-27 19:38:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6297505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Terrorbyrd/pseuds/Terrorbyrd
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You know that scene - "<i>Etrepa Seven standing guard with ancillary-like impassivity outside a storage compartment Ekalu and Seivarden had commandeered.</i>"</p><p>This is what happens inside, with a self-assured Ekalu and a Seivarden who desperately missed her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Deference

Before the door to the storage compartment had even fully closed, Seivarden found herself being lifted bodily and slammed against the opposing wall. (Outside, Etrepa Seven’s face remained still and neutral as though she heard and felt nothing.) Ekalu, who had walked ahead of her silent and impassive until they came to a door helpfully unlocked by Station, now had her hands fisted in the taller lieutenant’s jacket lapels. Even as the air left Seivarden’s lungs with the suddenness of impact, she found Ekalu’s mouth hungrily, clumsily pressing up against her own. The same Ekalu who had been so careful, almost deferential, in their previous encounters was pinning Seivarden to the wall with her whole weight, hands still clutching her jacket tightly. It took a second for Seivarden to catch her breath and return the kiss, tangling her fingers in Ekalu’s short hair as she did so. (Somewhere in the back of her mind she made a note to apologize to Amaat Two, who had fussed over her uniform at length this morning in preparation for their reunion with the Fleet Captain.)

As their kiss deepened, Ekalu opened her fisted hands and moved them up to frame Seivarden’s face. Seivarden opened her eyes when Ekalu pulled away, to find the lieutenant peering at her with an unreadable expression. Suddenly self-conscious, Seivarden dropped her hands to her sides, resisting the urge to cross her arms. A few long seconds passed in silence broken only by soft breathing while Ekalu examined Seivarden, hands still cupping her face. Finally, Ekalu stepped back and removed her jacket. Seivarden watched, unmoving, as Ekalu folded the jacket effortlessly and neatly before placing it on a box beside them, an unintentional reminder of the Etrepa lieutenant’s humble origin. Ekalu then did the same for Seivarden, meticulously removing and putting away the other officer’s jacket as if she were still Amaat One. 

Afterwards, Ekalu pressed Seivarden gently back against the wall, and leaned forward as if to kiss her again. Instead, Seivarden felt Ekalu’s lips brush against her neck, more of a breath than a touch, before she was gone again, her attention now on Seivarden’s shirt. Deft, gloved fingers worked quickly on Seivarden’s shirt buttons, another dizzying reminder both of who Ekalu was just weeks ago, and by extension, of their most recent argument. Before she had time to dwell on it and despair, she realized that Ekalu had stopped unbuttoning her shirt to interlace her fingers with Seivarden’s, first her right hand, and then her left. She was also whispering something into her ear. 

“Remove my gloves.”

Seivarden could suddenly hear her heart pounding in her ears. She opened her mouth to speak and found her mouth had gone dry. She swallowed quickly and licked her lips.

“As the lieutenant requests.”

Unconsciously holding her breath, Seivarden brought their interlaced hands together between their bodies before reluctantly letting go with one hand. She clasped Ekalu’s hand with both of hers for a brief moment before she began working the fingers of the glove loose. The soft sounds of shifting fabric and Ekalu’s quickening breath seemed to fill the room. Once Ekalu’s hand was bared, Seivarden brought it to her lips and planted a gentle kiss against the tips of the fingers before releasing it. It took a moment for Ekalu to lower her hand, and she exhaled carefully through slightly parted lips. Seivarden removed Ekalu’s other glove just as deliberately, but this time, instead of just brushing her lips over Ekalu’s fingertips, Seivarden very lightly licked the tip of Ekalu’s finger. Looking up, she saw Ekalu watching her with rapt intensity, her eyes dark with anticipation. Emboldened by Ekalu’s reaction, Seivarden repeated the motion, maintaining eye contact, but this time curled her tongue around Ekalu’s finger and sucked it briefly into her mouth. When Ekalu’s eyes fluttered shut, Seivarden smiled, letting go of the hand to begin removing Ekalu’s shirt. As Ekalu buried her face in her shoulder, Seivarden could hear Ekalu’s slight panting in her ear.

When both officers stood bare-handed with open shirts, Ekalu stepped back, apparently recollected and recomposed. Breathtakingly slow, she ghosted her hands across Seivarden’s smooth stomach, and then up her sides. Seivarden shivered at the first touch, goosebumps appearing to follow Ekalu’s trail. Ekalu’s thumbs traced languid circles across Seivarden’s skin, and Seivarden leaned her head forward against Ekalu’s, breathing in scent of the other lieutenant’s hair. She had never actively noticed it before, but Ekalu smelled comfortingly of both herself and the familiar military-stocked soap aboard Mercy of Kalr. Seivarden wrapped her arms around Ekalu’s midriff, drawing in her hips in until they pressed against her own, before sliding her hands up to rest against Ekalu’s warm back. Seivarden was gratified to feel Ekalu shiver in turn, but before she could savour the moment, Ekalu wiped all coherent thoughts from her mind by brushing her thumb across one nipple and mouthing the other. As Seivarden gasped, she felt Ekalu smile against her skin before pulling away.

When Ekalu began to carefully remove her boots and trousers, Seivarden hurried to help her, taking Ekalu’s uniform trousers away to place them folded by their jackets. Seivarden struggled to fold them as neatly as Ekalu had folded the jackets, but if Ekalu had noticed the somewhat messy job, she said nothing and allowed Seivarden to do the same for her own pants. Once Seivarden was finished, Ekalu carefully stepped out of her underpants, and folding them neatly, tucked them into Seivarden’s shirt pocket.

“You forgot about these.”

Before Seivarden could reply, Ekalu tilted her head back and kissed her, and pressed her bare hands against Seivarden’s chest. Seivarden reciprocated eagerly, and when she brought her hands around and squeezed Ekalu’s bare ass, Ekalu responded by sliding a hand past the waistband of Seivarden’s underpants and cupping her. As Seivarden inhaled sharply, Ekalu broke off her kiss and smiled into Seivarden’s neck before kissing and licking her way up to Seivarden’s ear. As she did so, her fingers worked away skillfully, fingertips stroking and squeezing with the dexterity and sensitivity only possible without gloves. She teased Seivarden mercilessly for several minutes as Seivarden hissed into Ekalu’s shoulder, and bit down to prevent herself from making too much noise or protesting vocally. Eventually Seivarden made a motion to remove her own underpants, but this prompted Ekalu to pull her hand out, ignoring Seivarden’s indignant gasp.

Ekalu settled her bare hands on Seivarden’s shoulders, wordlessly maneuvering them so that she could lean against the wall. From there, Ekalu pressed down firmly on Seivarden’s shoulders until the lieutenant obediently knelt before her. Seivarden looked up at her, lips parted and breathing roughly, waiting patiently to see what Elaku would want of her next. Something in Ekalu’s appraising eyes made her lick her lips, and bite down without realizing.

“You know what to do, lieutenant,” Ekalu said, sounding to Seivarden almost dismissive, bored. 

But Seivarden, seeing the faintest smile on her lips, the slightest quirk of her lips, knew better. And when Ekalu ran her hands through Seivarden’s hair, Seivarden dipped her head forward, bringing her hands up to squeeze Ekalu’s ass again, pulling her closer. She did know what to do, and went to work.

* * *

Later that evening, as they were walking back to their quarters, Seivarden pulled Ekalu into alcove and kissed her thoroughly. Etrepa Seven, amused but outwardly impassive, stood guard again.

“I really missed you,” Seivarden whispered as she embraced the other lieutenant tightly. “And I know I’m not very practised at it, but I’m working hard to be more considerate.”

“I know,” Ekalu conceded. “And if this evening is anything to go by, I’d say you’re making excellent progress.”

**Author's Note:**

> Somehow Ekalu became one of my favourites, and this last line at the end killed me:
>
>> " _Will_ you, now?" asked Ekalu, with a tiny smile that was the end of Seivarden's ability to seem cool and collected.
> 
> I initially started writing this right after plowing through the trilogy, but left it to sit a couple of months, so my apologies if any details are off.


End file.
